Everything you need to know about Garth Brooks

Think you’re a big Garth Brooks fan? Read on and find out. Here are 25 things you may or may not know about the iconic music superstar, who returns after 20 years to Saskatoon this week for his historic six shows in four nights …

Dave Deibert, Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Published on: June 9, 2016 | Last Updated: June 9, 2016 1:47 PM CST

Garth Brooks performs at the 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 7, 2013.Chris Pizzello / Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

If you’re planning on being among the 90,000 or so fans flocking to SaskTel Centre to see Garth Brooks this week, here are some helpful tips for getting there and back …

On Thursday and Sunday, doors open at 6 p.m. and the opening act hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, doors open for the 7 p.m. show at 5:30 p.m. For the 10:30 p.m. shows on Friday and Saturday, doors are expected to open at 10 p.m. “but due to the nature of dual performances, the opening of the doors could be delayed.” There is no opening act for the Friday and Saturday concerts.

Guests are “strongly encouraged to arrive early” for all shows, according to SaskTel Centre.

Those attending the 10:30 p.m. concerts should proceed to the south-end parking lot, near Highway 16, to be pre-scanned and clear security.

Ways to get to SaskTel Centre:

Use Saskatoon Transit from the downtown terminal on 23rd Street and Second Avenue. These buses will drop passengers off on Marquis Drive, two blocks from SaskTel Centre. Those using city transit to attend one of the 10:30 p.m. concerts must plan their own way from the downtown transit terminal after the show, as buses will not be extending hours on regular routes.

Use park-and-ride, with service beginning at 5:45 p.m. Cost is $5 per person, with available locations at Lawson Heights Mall, Market Mall and Confederation Mall.

Taxis, limos and private charter buses will drop passengers off at the arena.

Parking is available. Carpooling is “strongly encouraged” by SaskTel Centre.

Other notes: No RVs or trailers are allowed on-site … Tailgating is not permitted on-site … Guests can use any of the SaskTel Centre entrances. No exit and re-entry is allowed.

2. In 1991, ‘Ropin’ the Wind’ became the first country album to debut at No. 1 on Billboard 200, bumping Metallica’s self-titled album. After two weeks of Guns N’ Roses at No. 1 with ‘Use Your Illusion II,’ ‘Ropin’ the Wind’ returned to No. 1 for seven more weeks.

3. He was born and raised in Oklahoma. Wife and fellow star Trisha Yearwood, who is performing alongside Brooks during his world tour, is “very South Georgia, so there are some very Southern things that he just won’t try, like grits or boiled peanuts,” she told Fox News Magazine in 2014.

4. He makes a mean taco pizza, according to Yearwood.

5. Brooks attended Oklahoma State University, competing in the early 1980s in javelin for the track and field team. “I had a vision of every athletic heroism in the world, from hitting a home run in the World Series to the winning touchdown pass,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

6. He graduated with a degree in advertising. He also completed a master’s degree in business administration in 2011.

7. Looking for Brooks on iTunes? Good luck. Brooks wants his albums sold as they were recorded, not in the singles format, to ensure more obscure songs such as ‘Wolves’ are alongside hits such as ‘Friends in Low Places.’

8. Brooks has shown public support for everything from gay rights to victims of domestic violence, children’s charities to Habitat for Humanity. TNN and CMT both banned the video for ‘The Thunder Rolls,’ with CMT saying it would not “promote or condone gratuitous violence or social issues.” Brooks wanted to shed light on domestic violence and refused to alter the video, which later won him a Grammy and Country Music Award.

9. His first No. 1 song: ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes.’

10. Garth Brooks had a top-five hit on the pop charts with ‘Lost in You,’ under the alter ego of Chris Gaines. “I got the (expletive) kicked out of me for doing that. That was fun to do, though,” he said in a 2013 interview with Larry King.

11. Brooks met his first wife, Sandy, in college when he was working as a bouncer in Stillwater, Okla. She was involved in a fight in the women’s bathroom. “I had to throw her out,” he told UK talk show host Kirsty Young. “She beat me about nine times close to hell that night, too. I finally got her outside and I just kept noticing how cute she was.”

12. Garth and Sandy divorced in 2001 after 15 years, but they’ve maintained a close relationship. “You can stop being husband and wife but you don’t stop being mom and dad,” he said in an interview on Larry King Live. They had three daughters together: Taylor, August and Allie.

13. He offered to donate part of his liver in 2000 to close friend and singer/rodeo star Chris Ledoux, but Brooks was incompatible. LeDoux died in 2005 from liver cancer.

14. In 1985, he moved to Nashville to chase his dreams. It didn’t go so well. He was back in Oklahoma 24 hours later. Two years after that, he moved back to Nashville to try again. In 1989, he released his self-titled album featuring ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes,’ ‘The Dance’ and ‘Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old).’ A star was born.

15. In 1999, Brooks attended spring training with the San Diego Padres. In 2000, he signed with the New York Mets for the spring. In 2004, he suited up for the Kansas City Royals.

16. His favourite song to cover as part of his 2013 box set: Superstition. “That was fun. Again, no way can we touch Stevie Wonder’s thing. But my whole thing is to hope Stevie Wonder goes, ‘Respect. He treated the song the way it was written.’ “

17. Brooks has hosted Saturday Night Live twice. In 1998, he was the host and musical guest. In 1999, he was the host and Chris Gaines was the musical guest.

18. He has also appeared on Sesame Street, The Muppets and Hee Haw.

19. Brooks announced his retirement in 2000, citing a promise to spend more time with his young family.

20. From 2009-2014, Brooks took up residency at The Wynn in Las Vegas. Attempting to drum up support for his charity efforts, he reached out to billionaire owner Steve Wynn. Wynn wound up convincing Brooks to play a set number of weekend shows, thanks in part to offering the use of a private plane that would fly Brooks back and forth between Vegas and Oklahoma. That way, Brooks would miss out on almost zero family time.

21. Brooks sold more than 90,000 tickets for six Saskatoon shows. In 2007 in Kansas City, 160,000 tickets for nine concerts in 10 days were sold out in two hours. In 1997, a free concert in New York’s Central Park drew an estimated 980,000 people. In 2014, around 400,000 tickets were sold for five concerts at Dublin, Ireland’s Croke Park. (After complaints from residents, city council ruled he could only play three shows. The shows were eventually cancelled. “Hurt like hell,” he told The Telegraph in 2014 of missing out on those shows.)

22. Brooks is the only solo artist to have six albums with more than 10 million sales each.

23. He will not sing a love duet with anyone except Yearwood. (One example: he respectfully declined to record a duet with Shawn Southwick, singer and wife of Larry King, on her album.)

24. Brooks became a grandfather in 2013 when daughter August gave birth to a baby girl, Karalynn.

25. At Nashville’s Fan Fair in 1996, Brooks made an unannounced appearance and wound up signing autographs for 23 consecutive hours. “Me and (road crew member) Mick were trying to come up with good enough lies, and we never came up with anything that we’d buy. So we kept signing,” Brooks told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1998. “We’d started at 11 a.m. A storm came in later, and we thought, ‘Great.’ And these people broke out rain ponchos. The sun started to come up, and they ordered breakfast. Me and Mick were praying when the 23rd hour started. I don’t remember hardly anything.”

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.